The Evolution of Us
by falsification
Summary: The fourth time he sees her, she's beautiful and perfect, and he's just… him.


The first time he sees her, she's four and he's five, and he thinks that she is pretty. She has cooties- but she is pretty. They are at their first day of school. Kindergarten is what his mommy calls it. His daddy is standing behind him, an expectant look on his face. He looks at all the other daddies. They don't look expectant. They look happy and proud and they are all smiling. He notices that she doesn't have a daddy. Oh! But look. There he is. He can tell it is _her_ daddy because he has the same sparkly green eyes as her. She looks scared and nervous and shaky. Her mommy is crouched in front of her, holding her hands. And she is nodding. He looks at the other kids. There is a loud blonde boy standing next to a red-haired woman, and a small, pale little girl sitting on her daddy's shoulders. He looks back at her. Her hair is pink. Pale, bunny-nose pink. It's long and tangled and it's in pigtails. He thinks that she is pretty.

The second time he sees her, she's nine, and he's ten. They are in gym class, and he thinks that she is small and weak. She can't climb the rope or the rock wall, and she can't catch a ball. He notices, though, that when she is not cowering behind that Ino-girl, she runs. She runs fast and gracefully. She dodges through the crowds of the other kids, and she can jump and skip and he thinks that it is amazing, the way she runs. Strong and free and wild. Her rosy hair, long and no longer tangled, flies behind her, whipping and flowing. She let's out a peal of delighted laughter as she runs, but she stumbles, falters. She trips over that stupid-head, Ami, who snickers as she sticks her bony, reedy leg out when she runs by. He feels a surge of bubbly anger at the sight of that pretty, graceful, pink-haired girl smashing into the floor. He's in front of her before he can think. Holding his hand out, he says, _"Are you okay?"_ and he feels satisfied and assured when she replies, _"Uh-huh, I'm fine."_ And all he wants to do then is punch that dumb Ami, right in the face- but he knows he can't, because she's a girl. So, after she is steady on her feet, he glares at Ami, and he doesn't know it, but that's when Sakura begins to adore him.

The third time he sees her, she's fifteen, and he's sixteen. They are at Naruto's party, and he thinks that she is loud and rambunctious. He also subconsciously thinks that she is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen, but he doesn't know it yet. She is dancing with Ino, and Naruto's girlfriend, Cho, who everybody calls Coco. She is smiling wildly, and she is rolling her slightly underdeveloped hips to the rolling of the guitar. It is cold and warm at the same time, because it is mid-night, but they have started a fire. His sister sits next to him, and her fiery red hair glows orange in the fire. She looks at him sideways, squinting and smiling. He knows that look. That is her 'I-know-what-you're-thinking-and-it's-going-to-make-he-laugh-because-you're-emotionally-constipated' look. He does not like that look. It means that she is assuming and guessing and it is never good when she does that. _"What."_ He says, and she laughs. His head drops into his hand. He knows where this is going. _"I _know_, Sasuke,"_ she says, pausing to sip her beer. _"I've been observing you,"_ she says, as if she knows something that he does not. He raises an eyebrow. _"And all this apparent observing you've been doing; what has it lead you to falsely believe?"_ he asks, because he knows how she is, and he knows that whenever she claims to be observing, the observations are never right; only vague and half-formed. She nods. _"I've seen the way you watch her,"_ she says, gesturing with her cup to the throng of dancing people, not specifying whom, but he knows. _"And?" _he urges, half eager to find out what she thinks of his spying. She smiles. _"I've been watching you, and I've been watching her, and you know what I've discovered?" _she questions, and he raises his eyebrows, deciding to play her little game. _"You, Sasuke Uchiha,"_ she says loudly and with gusto, attracting the gazes of many, and he is worried that she will say something bad, like 'you love her', which he thinks would be a lie – or 'you want to jump her bones', which he is not sure would be a lie. _"Have a deep infatuation with," _He does not like where this is going._ "a Miss Sak- mph!"_ it is then that he clamps his hand over her mouth, and drags her and himself over the back of the log they are sitting on, landing them in sand. _"Oomph! Sasuke, you bastard! What the hell-" _He clamps his hand harder because apparently she needs to shut up. She only scowls and bites him. When he flings his injured hand in the opposite direction, she sits up and begins assaulting his chest with her fists (Karin is a kick boxer. A very good kick boxer). _"You asshole!" _she screeches, but he knows it is worth it as long as nobody heard her (not so much) lies. He faintly hears the music stop, and the rushing of people and feet, but he is in too much pain to really care.

"_Sasuke? Are you alright?"_ a feminine voice says to him, softly. The girl who is next to him is not his sister – thank God. In fact, he is fairly sure that the girl next to him belongs to pink hair and green eyes and a fiery temper. _"Here, drink this," _she says, and suddenly in his hand in a cold plastic cup of what he assumes to be water. He downs it in seconds because his sister really beat him. He opens his eyes and looks at her. She is wearing no make-up and a smile, and her bubble-gum pink hair looks less like bubble-gum and more like the sunset. _"Hey," _she says simply, and he decides that maybe she is not so loud and a little more compassionate than he previously thought. He offers no response, only slides his arm around her waist, and pulls her slim form to him and he holds her. He thinks she smells like the beach and fire and a little bit like raspberries. And maybe, hopefully, a lot like his cologne.

The fourth time he sees her, she's beautiful and perfect, and he's just… _him._ They are eighteen, and they are graduating. It is after the ceremony, but only just. He watches her from across the entrance hall of their school, and he watches _him_ – her ex-boyfriend –

with a sense of cold fury. Because he broke her heart and he cheated and he lied. And everyone can tell that Sasuke Uchiha is in one of his _moods_. He seems to radiate an aura that is blatantly _angry_ whenever he sees them together. He is angry because the only thing he established with her in the past four years is a stable friendship, and she is so infuriating because she went and asked out that _asshole_ when they were sophomores and the next year, she caught him kissing her lab partner. In front of her locker. And the prick has the nerve to speak to her – to even dare breathe the same air as her. All he wants is to hit the bastard until he stops thinking. But he can't, and he won't. She turns and he sees the pained grimace on her face. His vision goes blurry and he stalks his way over to the concealed corner where they are standing. _"…do you wanna get together sometime, babe? I still got the Camaro, we could go for a ride, how bout that?" _she moves to slap him, but he catches her hand. _"Come on, don't be like that… I just wanna make this right…" _he is disgusted by the way he is speaking to her. He catches her eye over the _fuckers' _shoulder, and he mouths _'I got him' _and she nods. He grabs the douche's shoulder and flips him around. Just as those bleak, black, beady eyes register the fact that standing before him is _TheSasukeUchiha_, and he is about to get hit. In the face. Hard. And so, Sasuke flung back his fist, and snapped it forward with all his strength. Her ex stumbled backwards, slammed into the wall and groaned, gripping his face. She gasps and cringes, and he feels guilt for a split-second, before she begins to laugh. She is keeling over with the extent of her delighted and slightly vindictive peals of laughter. He chuckles lightly at first, but soon he is joining her in her rave of disbelief and joy. _"Thanks, Sasuke. I don't know what would have happened with him if you hadn't taken care of it," _She says, after they have left. They are walking to her house to drop her off. He smiles behind his smirk. _"Don't worry about it. The guy was messing with you. He deserved it," _He says. She mock-punches his shoulder. _"Don't worry about it? C'mon, man. You should have seen it,"_ she says, acting out the scene, making it seem twenty times more dramatic and movie-esque than it was. _"Man, it was heroic and epic. You were all, 'bwahhhh!' and he was all, '_NOOOOOOO_!'" _She demonstrates, moving her hands and contorting her face to look angry, then afraid. He laughs and playfully musses her hair. _"You're crazy,"_ he mutters, and she only smiles. _"So, Sasuke,"_ she states, discreetly weaving her fingers through his. _"You got any plans for college?"_ he grins and holds on tight. _"Not yet." _He says. She raises her brow. _"Really? I always thought the minute you graduated, you'd be outa here." _He gives her a reproachful glance. _"What?"_ she defends. _"It's not like you've given any sign of enjoying your life here." _He blinks. _"Oh, so you've been paying attention?"_ at her warning stare, he continues. Even though he knows he won't win any argument with her. _"And here I thought you had been walking around, dreaming of rainbows and unicorns." _She gawks. _"Oh, come on. You can't possibly think that I have no thoughts besides 'Oh, that is such a delicate cloud. It reminds me of a little bunny. How whimsical. Tra-la-la-la-la'. Seriously."_ She finishes, and he just chuckles. He notices that she does not like that. She folds her left arm across her chest (he inwardly smirks because that means that she does not want to let go of his hand) and sticks her tiny nose in the air. She huffs. He smiles. The pair of them walk in silence for two more blocks and then She asks- _"So, if you're _not_ going to college in the fall, what _are_ you doing?" _He thinks. _"I don't know. Maybe I'll go to a big city. Like New York. Or Chicago."_ She shakes her head. _"No, no. Chicago isn't your style. It's too… classic," _she emphasizes her point by waving her arms in front of her like she is presenting something. He thinks at this. New York _is_ closer. And he could always persuade her to come with him. _"What about you?" _He asks, turning to face her and stopping them. _"What_ _are you doing in September, huh?" _she smiles. He realizes that they are only a few feet away from her door. _"Why?"_ she asks and she is leaning in suspiciously and her hands are snaking up and around his chest. Her lips are only inches away and he can _taste_ her breath- _"Would you want me to come too?" _she asks. And then he cannot take it any longer so he grabs her face and he kisses her. She is smiling into the kiss, he can tell. And he hears her whisper _'finally'_ against his lips and it is fantastic. The porch lights are flickering and she is laughing and he thinks that this is beautiful. She gives him a humorous glance and she says, _"I would come with, you know,"_ as she is walking in to her house. He doesn't realize it, but that is the moment that he falls in love with her.

So that's it. Part two maybe?


End file.
